Ladder racks are used by a variety of people, including contractors and tradesmen, to secure ladders and other elongated structures to vehicles, such as flatbed trucks, pick-up trucks or vans. The ladder racks are typically secured to each side of the truck bed or van roof whereby the vehicle has both a left rack and a right rack. Conventional ladder racks include a collection of support members, including a primary vertical member, a horizontal member that supports the ladder, a secondary vertical member that extends from an inner end of the horizontal member, and at least one cross member extending between the primary vertical member and the horizontal member to provide support thereto. The left and right racks each comprise a front rack and a rear rack, which helps to distribute the weight of the ladders that are secured thereto. When the vehicle has both left and right racks, the racks provide a total of four support points: left front, left rear, right front and right rear.
Because the vehicle is driven to and from various locations, including storage locations and worksites, it is imperative that the ladders be properly secured to the rack. If a ladder dislodges from the rack while the vehicle is being driven down a road, damage to the ladder, the rack, the vehicle, other vehicles and/or nearby property can occur. This problem is heightened by the fact that commercial ladders, racks and vehicles used by contractors and tradesmen are expensive and any time spent to repair them negatively impacts the finances of the business that owns and operates these items.
Conventional means for securing ladders to racks include rope, tie-down straps and bungee cords, but they suffer from a number of significant limitations. First, the process of securing an extension ladder to a rack with conventional means is very time consuming because the rope, strap or bungee cord is fed through or around a number of ladder rungs and side rails before being secured. Second, human error can reduce the efficiency of the securement process and introduce errors in feeding the rope, strap or bungee cord through and/or around the ladder and nearby rack, which compromises the reliability of the securement. Third, rope, strap and bungee cords are prone to wear and reduced reliability, especially since these conventional means are exposed over time to harsh weather conditions in the environment. Finally, rope, strap and bungee cords can be easily severed by cutting them, which can lead to unauthorized use or theft of the valuable ladders.
Accordingly, there is a long-standing need for a durable ladder locking system that releasably secures a ladder to a vehicle rack in a time efficient manner while deterring theft and misuse of the ladder.